Quotes & Reviews

“‘The One Who Lives Too Far’ describes the collapse of a long-distance relationship as if it were as gradual and inevitable as the ice breaking up in the spring. Fullbright has a better voice and a less scathing attitude than Randy Newman, but when the young Oklahoman sings in that deadpan delivery and plays the piano with those Hollywood chord changes, he sounds as if he’s channeling the older Californian.” — Geoffrey Himes, Paste Magazine

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“I have no doubt that in a very short time John Fullbright will be a household name in American music.” — Jimmy Webb

“Mr. Fullbright joins the lineage of terse Southwestern songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, sticking to a few folky chords and reaching for unassailable clarity.” — Jon Pareles, The New York Times

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“The simplicity of the album’s title [‘Songs’] is a harbinger of what it contains — songs impressively and potently economical, mostly stripped back to poetically astute lyrics and heart-rending musical feeling.” — Randy Lewis, The Los Angeles Times

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“Tightly wound, musically sparse… this 26-year-old Oklahoman neither wastes a word nor unfurls a cliché emotion… And it all hangs on this: ‘I didn’t know about silence/Until you were gone.’” — James Joiner, Esquire

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“In a short-attention-span world overloaded with sensory stimulation, there aren’t many artists who can stop you in your tracks with a single song, let alone repeat the feat through an entire album…. You can’t move right after hearing this song. That’s how powerful it is.” — Lynne Margolis, American Songwriter

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“…sad and serious and wise and wonderful, well written, well played and well sung. Well done.” — Steven Wine, Associated Press

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“We were on the show with a songwriter that blew us all away — John Fullbright — when he started to play all our mouths dropped open in wonderment. I am a huge fan now and will sing his praises to anyone who will listen. Wow, his voice, his piano and guitar playing, his melodies, images, his wit. It’s like God created this guy from the DNA of Mark Twain, Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Hank Jr., Townes Van Zandt, Carole King, and Elton John — and whatever else you can think of that’s intellectual and populist at the same time… remarkable.” — Amy Ray

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“With scores of his own twists of melody and turns of phrase that make his work uniquely his and no one else’s he pays in full his debts to his forbearers. And at the age of twenty-five he can pen book-worthy lines about God and love and loss and the human condition, all in an American voice with shifting narrative perspectives that remind me as much of Vonnegut as any songwriter.” — Clay Stevens, American Songwriter

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“I ran across a guy named John Fullbright from Oklahoma. I went down to the Continental Gallery last week, and Jon Dee was doing his thing in the Gallery …. and his friend that week was this kid from Oklahoma, who’s about 22. I only heard the last half of the last song. I could hear him from across the street, and I thought, ‘Man, that sounds like money to me.’ A lot like Steve Earle – he’s got that same quality to his voice, only he enunciates better, writes really well. He can go places if he wants to.” — James McMurtry

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“I’ve only heard a few songs, but it’s pretty clear that John Fullbright is one of the most talented young guns out there. Sometimes I think the art of songcraft – using characters, story, language, melody to create something lasting – is a vanishing art, practised only by old fogies like me. It’s good to see a 21-year-old stepping into this tradition and keeping it fresh and alive.” — Slaid Cleaves

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“…an extraordinary collection of surpassing depth and maturity. [Live at the Blue Door is] just voice, guitar, the occasional harmonica and a whole bunch of words, each and every last one perfectly measured and placed.” — David Menconi, Raleigh News-Observer

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“Fullbright’s SXSW showcase — the first of eight gigs he has here this week — was as perfect as if it were a Jonathan Demme concert film. … Fullbright synthesizes the best songcraft from his home state — Webb, Leon Russell and, by default, Merle Haggard. … He’s got a tune called “Forgotten Flower[s],” a thoughtful country lament, that Tom Waits and Randy Newman could fight over.” — Thomas Conner, Chicago Sun-Times

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“It was hard for me to believe that this is his first studio album…. The record is a great mix of tunes and styles, but doesn’t just bounce around from one to the next. Songs flow from spiritual rockers written from the point of view of God himself, to slow, almost intimate piano ballads, to country folk songs and rockers that have you singing along before you realize that you haven’t even heard the song before. It sounds like he painstakingly put together this record. It’s not just a bunch of songs to download – it’s a record to listen to.” — Rob Henry, Cool Album of the Day

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“Looking at him, well, if truth be told, he doesn’t even look like he is old enough to know about any of this stuff. But don’t let that fool you…he knows it well. His voice is a revelation. His playing is eye opening on every instrument that he touches; guitar, harmonica, piano and accordion.” — Music Fog

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“No one who encounters Fullbright in person is likely to forget songs like “Jericho,” “Blameless” or “High Road,” all of which come close to Mickey Newbury excellence in lyrical brilliance… and close to Guthrie in raspy Okie Dust Bowl plaint. ” — William Michael Smith, Houston Press

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“First time seeing John and all I can say is you have got to be kidding me. I’m not sure how long its been since a new to me artist left me with my mouth on the floor. It’s been a couple of days and I still can’t believe how good this guy is.” — Live Music in Austin

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“No need to beat about the bush, John Fullbright is a songwriter of simply extraordinary talent, who has produced a collection of songs that deserve to be heard across the planet.” — Naomi Koppel, Backroads